Laptop Teaching: Checking In

Hello, everyone.

Two quick notes, one very important.

* If you've got comments, suggestions, concerns, etc. about laptops or laptop teaching, now is an excellent time to send them along.  I'll be spending a lot of time at the beginning of next semester working on next year's tech request, and that's one of our big chances to get things fixed and upgraded.

* The very important note: We've got several new teachers assigned to laptop classrooms for spring, and we may be short laptops.  If you know that you won't really be using your laptop next semester, I'd appreciate knowing right away if you'd be willing to volunteer to turn yours in for re-assignment.  (If I don't get any volunteers, we may have to call some laptops back in anyway, and I hate doing that.)

Hope to hear from you soon,

Fred

First Day Laptop Notes

Good morning, everyone. A few notes for this first day o' the semester:

1. Ethernet cables. Currently the Ethernet ports in 106 and 107 are
*not* working. As you'll remember, it can be a problem if every
student in both of those rooms is wirelessly Internetting at the same
time, since that can cause everyone's net connection to slow way
down. We're hoping the Ethernet problem will be fixed soon. VIS is
working on it. Given all that, you may or may not want to require
that your students buy short Ethernet cables if you're teaching in
those rooms. My best suggestion is that you require the cables only
if you know you'll be doing some pretty intense online work all
semester long.

2. Generally speaking, if you're in a laptop room and you have plans
to have your students do intense online work in class, it's good
policy to require them to buy Ethernet cables as part of their course
supplies. Short ones can be purchased at the Computer Showcase in RB
for substantially less than $10.

3. The car reader door locks SHOULD be programmed to accept all of
our IDs. But--as always at the beginning of the year--anticipate
bumps. You may need to have a neighboring teacher let you in. (And,
if that's the case, you should shoot an email to Chris Elliot,
celliott@bsu.edu, and let him know your card isn't working.)

4. I have Mac video adapters (for lending) in my office. Let me
know if you're in need of one.

5. IP Printing in 17S: By the end of the week, I'll have
instructions for wirelessly printing for those of you teaching in 17S.
6. 3-6:00, MW, is a good time to look for me in my office. But
email if you need to find me at other times.

Cheers,

Fred

Fwd: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Hey, folks . . .

Notice the upcoming Tablet PC, Blackboard, and Office 07 sessions in the Tech Training list below.  These are about an hour long  and are usually a good way to get the basics under control.

Fred

Begin forwarded message:

Date: August 11, 2007 3:05:42 AM EDT

Subject: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Technology Training Support Services invites you to attend the following workshops to advance your technical skills. Please click on the title to see a description and to register for the session. Or, go to www.bsu.edu/techtrain to see the training calendar and register for training sessions.

Campus Utilities and Applications
August 15	What's New with Wireless Networking
August 23	What's New with Wireless Networking
August 27	What's New with Wireless Networking
Faculty/Staff Walk-In Clinic
August 17	Vignette Workshop
August 24	Vignette Workshop
August 31	Vignette Workshop
Instructional Technology
August 13	Blackboard 1: Content Management
August 13	SMART Board Basics
August 13	Gradebook - Introduction
August 14	Blackboard 1: Content Management
August 14	Gradebook - Introduction
August 14	Tablet PC + Active Learning
August 14	inQsit - Creating Online Tests
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 20	Tablet PC + Active Learning
August 22	Power Presentations Basics
August 22	What is New with Blackboard?
August 22	Gradebook - Introduction
August 22	SMART Board Basics
August 23	Power Presentations Media & Design
August 23	What is New with Blackboard?
August 24	What is New with Blackboard?
August 30	Tablet PC+ Digital Grading and Document Sharing
Media and Design
August 14	Vignette Basics
August 16	Vignette Basics
August 24	Vignette Basics
Office Productivity
August 15	Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
August 22	Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
August 28	Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007

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Office 2007: Getting It Before It Gets You

Greetings, all.

As you may know, a new version of Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) was released last year, along with the new Windows Vista operating system, and both are now available free from BSU. While you don't need to upgrade to Windows Vista yet (and there are good reasons to wait), it would be a very good idea to go ahead and upgrade to Office 2007, which runs just fine in good ol' Windows XP. There are three major reasons to make the switch. (1) Freshman arriving with new PCs will be using Office 07. (2) The labs all over campus (including our e-classrooms) will gradually be making the switch this year. (3) The new file format for Office '07, which ultimately is a big improvement, in the short term is going to make trouble for those of us still using Word 2003 which, as is, will not read Word 2007 files.

To (I hope!) help you decide how to manage the looming menace of Office 2007, I've put together a little page full of download links and help links, here. Take a look at the page, which covers upgrading and makes suggestions about handling files, whether you're working on a PC or a Mac. (There's even a special Mac section.)

My recommendation is that you upgrade to Office 2007 now, so that you'll have time to get comfortable with it before school starts. You can postpone, if you'd like, but sooner or later Mr. Gates *will* suck you into the new interface. That's the kind of power he has.

If you'd like to get a "sample" of the new programs before you take the leap, Chris Elliott has helped us out by installing Office 2007 on the workroom PC nearest the laser printer.

Let me know if you run into trouble or have further questions.

Fred Johnson

PS: I've been playing with especially Word 2007 for a couple of weeks, and I really do like the changes, for what it's worth. The interface is a little foreign at first, but once I found the options I use most often, everything did work a bit more smoothly than it did in the old interface.

PPS: The link for that help page, again:

http://www.google.com/notebook/public/00598166139742801604/BDSaYIgoQ06ejjLsi

Making a "Help" List for e-Classrooms

Folks--

I'm working on a "help" sheet with numbers and emails for common
problems or questions people might have when teaching in the e-
classrooms, and I was hoping you could give me a hand making sure
I've covered everything.

Seems to me there are about a half-dozen categories that would cover
most problems:

* Paper and Other Supplies
* Computers
* Printers and Printing
* Projectors and Projector Bulbs
* All Other Instructional Equipment
* Furniture and Room Maintenance Issues
* Temperature

Two questions for you:

(1) Can you think of things that might not fit into those categories?
(2) Are there specific troubleshooting/help questions you want to see
addressed more clearly?

(Question 2 is where you vent. E.g., "How the %$#@ do I . . ." or
"What the %$#$ am I supposed to do when . . ." C'mon. You know
you've got one.)

Thanks!

Fred

Fwd: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

All-

Notice the two Tablet PC sessions coming up (see below).  (And there are also sessions on things like blogging and podcasting for the classroom.)

That is all,

Fred

Begin forwarded message:

From: <lputman@bsu.edu>

Date: May 13, 2007 3:04:59 AM EDT

To: <abjohnson@bsu.edu>

Subject: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Technology Training Support Services invites you to attend the following workshops to advance your technical skills. Please click on the title to see a description and to register for the session. Or, go to www.bsu.edu/techtrain to see the training calendar and register for training sessions.

Faculty/Staff Walk-In Clinic
May 18	Vignette Workshop
June 1	Vignette Workshop
Instructional Technology
May 17	Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 17	SMART Board Basics
May 18	SMART Board Basics
May 18	Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 21	Best of Blackboard
May 22	inQsit - Creating Online Surveys
May 29	inQsit - Creating Online Tests
Media and Design
May 15	Introduction to Blogs
May 16	Introduction to Podcasting
May 16	Vignette Basics
May 17	Introduction to Vodcasting
May 24	Vignette Basics
May 29	Web Design Basics
May 30	Microsoft FrontPage 1: Introduction
May 30	Using WORD 2003 to Create Web Pages
May 31	Microsoft FrontPage 3: Working with Graphics & Web Components
May 31	Using WORD 2003 to Create Web Pages
Office Productivity
May 21	Office 2007 - A First Look
May 25	Excel 1: Fundamentals
May 30	Office 2007 - A First Look
June 1	Excel 2: Formulas & Functions
Technology Development Series
May 30	Introduction to iWeb for Macintosh Users
May 31	Adding Multimedia to iWeb sites for Macintosh Users

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A destination for research, learning, and friends

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Keeping Laptops for Summer

Folks with Departmental Laptops--

(1) Big announcement: So long as you're planning to teach at BSU in the fall, we're not taking the laptops back over the summer.  The laptop pool is big enough now that the chances of us having to completely redistribute them in the fall are much less than they were last year.  More importantly, summer is the best time for many of us to experiment and learn how to use new tools.  So I talked with Drs. McBride and Hozeski, and we all agreed that leaving the machines with you is the best policy.

(2) Two notes on that, though.  First, if your computer is slowing down, messing up, freaking out, or in any way on the fritz, please get in touch with Chris Elliott (celliott@bsu.edu) and set up a time to leave your computer with him for a checkup.  (Chris can fill you in on how to do regular maintenance yourself, too, if you'd like to do it yourself.)  Second, remember that if you are not assigned to a laptop-only classroom in the fall, we *may* have to take back your laptop in the fall, so that some laptop-less person who *has* been assigned to a laptop-only classroom can be equipped.  But we're going to try to avoid that, and we think that we probably can.

(3)  Tech Training: Once or twice a month, we get "Tech Training" emails (like the one appended below) in our inboxes.  These are easy to ignore, I know, but these folks run some pretty valuable intro sessions for us, for free.  Summer might be a good time to consider one, like maybe Tablet PC one being offered on the 17th.  If you've got interest, sign up, so they don't cancel the sessions.

(4) On the evils of PowerPoint.  (There's funny here, if you need a grading break.)

(5) Non-evil PowerPoint.  (Not so much funny, but a very good set of principles.  Bookmark this one.)

One week to summer break . . .

Fred

Begin forwarded message:

From: <lputman@bsu.edu>

Date: April 29, 2007 3:04:50 AM EDT

To: <abjohnson@bsu.edu>

Subject: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Technology Training Support Services invites you to attend the following workshops to advance your technical skills. Please click on the title to see a description and to register for the session. Or, go to www.bsu.edu/techtrain to see the training calendar and register for training sessions.

Instructional Technology
May 17	Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 17	SMART Board Basics
May 18	SMART Board Basics
May 18	Tablet PC + Active Learning
Media and Design
May 15	Introduction to Blogs
May 16	Introduction to Podcasting
Office Productivity
May 1	Access 4: Reports

Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends

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This email was sent to you by University Libraries' Technology Training Support Services. You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time.